Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons^™

The Discovery Of Cumulative Knowledge: Strategies For Designing And Communicating Qualitative Research., Alan J. Richardson

Odette School of Business Publications

Purpose: this paper provides guidance for designing and generating cumulative knowledge based on qualitative research.

Design/methodology/approach: the paper draws on the philosophy of science and specific examples of qualitative studies in accounting that have claimed a cumulative contribution to knowledge to develop a taxonomy of theoretically-justified approaches to generating cumulative knowledge from qualitative research.

Findings: the paper argues for a definition of cumulative knowledge that is inclusive of anti-realist research, i.e. knowledge is cumulative if it increases the extent and density of intertextual linkages in a field. It identifies the possibility of cumulative qualitative research based on extensions to the …